Hair styling figure and accessories

ABSTRACT

A hair styling figure, and accessories therefor, which includes a simulated head having a skull portion with hair imbedded therein or fixed thereto. The skull portion has a generally centrally located aperture in the top thereof through which a tuft of simulated hair protrudes and within which one of a plurality of interchangeable accessory pieces may be removably received. The accessory pieces when received in the skull aperture have outwardly protruding portions which facilitate styling the hair for curling, braiding or other styling arrangements. Once the hair is set by utilizing one of the hair styling accessory pieces, the particular accessory piece may be removed, if desired, and the hair combed out or otherwise arranged.

United States Patent [191 Terzian et al.

[ 1 May 7, 1974 HAIR STYLING FIGURE AND ACCESSORIES [73] Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates,

Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Jan. 15, 1973 [211 App]. No.: 323,703

3,618,583 11/1971 Pottern 46/135 R Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. Q. Lever Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cofi'ey & Sweeney [5 7] ABSTRACT A hair styling figure, and accessories therefor, which includes a simulated head having a skull portion with hair imbedded therein or fixed thereto. The skull portion has a generally centrally located aperture in the top thereof through which a tuft of simulated hair protrudes and within which one of a plurality of interchangeable accessory pieces may be removably received. The accessory pieces when received in the skull aperture have outwardly protruding portions which facilitate styling the hair for curling, braiding or other styling arrangements. Once the hair is set by utilizing one of the hair styling accessory pieces, the particular accessory piece may be removed, if desired, and the hair combed out or otherwise arranged.

14 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures HAIR STYLING FIGURE AND ACCESSORIES BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to dolls, educational devices, or the like, and more particularly to a novel hair styling figure and accessories therefor.

Generally speaking, dolls or other figure devices which contemplate changing hair styles therefor normally include a head or skull portion on which different hair pieces or wigs may be positioned to change the hair styling of the figure. However, the provision of the different hair pieces alone limits the individual creativity of the participant. For instance, in some known structures, this is accomplished by merely replacing the entire skull cap portion or a wig portion for the doll. In other instances, this is accomplished by merely allowing for the replacement of one or more small portions of the dolls hair piece.

Other known devices employ accessory pieces which are independent items, such as curlers or the like, which may be utilized to style or set the hair of the doll. In addition to being limited in their versatility, such independent accessories usually require the participant to use at least one of his or her hands to hold the accessory while manipulating the hair of the doll with the other hand. To many individuals this is a cumbersome proceeding, as well as being a procedure whereby the versatility of styling of the hair is greatly limited by the required manipulation of the separate accessories.

This invention is directed to providing a new and improved hair styling figure and accessories therefor.

An object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a hair styling figure such as a doll head or other educational, device of the character described.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, a simulated doll head includes a skull portion in the form of a generally hollow rigid shell having means defining simulated yieldable hair thereon. A central aperture is formed in the top of the skull portion through which a tuft of hair protrudes from the interior of the dolls head. A plurality of interchangeable hair styling pieces or accessories are removably receivable within the skull aperture and hasa tubular portion through which the tuft of hair from the interior of the dolls head extends.

In one embodiment of a hair styling accessory in accordance with the present invention, the accessory is designed to remain in position received in the aperture of the dolls head to hold the hair in a particular style.

In other accessory embodiments, the interchangeable hair styling pieces have portions surrounding the tuft of hair which extends therethrough for facilitating styling the dolls hair, such as curling, braiding or the like. Once the hair is completely styled and/or set, the hair styling piece may be removed from the aperture in the doll s head and the hair which was set thereby can be combed out or otherwise arranged.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical, generally front to rear, sectional view through a dolls head and a positioned hair styling accessory in accordance with the concepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hair styling accessory shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another form of hair styling accessory adapted particularly for use in braiding the dolls hair;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the accessory shown in FIG. 3, with tufts of hair positioned thereon during the process of braiding the same;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another form of hair styling accessory, adapted particularly for curling the dolls hair; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale, of one of the upstanding posts of the accessory shown in FIG. 5, with a tuft of the dolls hair wrapped thereabout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TI-IE INVENTION Referring to the drawings in greater detail and firstto FIG. 1, a head, generally designated 10, of a doll, educational figure or the like, is shown to include a skull portion 12 generally in the form of a substantially hollow rigid shell. For purposes of facilitating the illustration, only the head portion 10 of the doll or other figure is shown in the drawing. However the head may be part of a bust, a full-sized doll, or simply mounted on top of a supporting stand or the like. The doll head has yieldable simulated hair 14 imbedded therein or otherwise secured thereto about a generally central aperture 16 formed in the top of the skull portion 12 of the doll head. In addition, an elongate tuft 18 of hair is appropriately secured at one end thereof, as at 20, within the inside of the doll or figure head, with the tuft of hair protruding outwardly through the aperture 16 for hair styling purposes.

The invention contemplates the provision of a plurality of interchangeable hair styling pieces or accessories,

such as 22a, 22b and 220, adapted for removably mounting or positioning thereof within the aperture 16 through the top of the skull portion 12 of the doll head 10. The interchangeable hair styling accessories 22a, 22b and 22c are shown in perspective in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, respectively.

Each of the hair styling accessories 22a-22c have a normally downwardly depending open-ended tubular portion 24 having an elongated open-ended slot 26 extending lengthwise thereof. The tubular portions 24 of the accessories are substantially identical in size and shape and are adapted for removable positioning within the skull aperture 16, as shown by the accessory 22a in FIG. 1. The slots 26 in the tubular portions 24 of the accessories are provided so that the tuft of hair 18 which protrudes through the skull aperture 16 may be inserted through the slots 26 so as to be disposed within and extend through the tubular portions 24 as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the accessory 22a is a hair raiser type styling piece so as to shift the exposed portion of the tuft of hair from the downwardly hanging position shown in full lines in FIG. 1 to the raised position shown in phantom. More particularly, a ring-like flange portion 28 protrudes generally radially outwardly from the tubular portion 24 and has a pair of spaced apertures 30 therethrough. A barrette, generally designated 32, in the form of a simulated bow is secured at one end to a string 34 which extends through the apertures 30 as shown best in FIG. 2. The opposite end of the string 34 has a pull ring 36 secured thereto. The barrette 32 is of conventional construction and includes a hair holding clip 38 pivoted at one end by a boss 40, with the opposite end of the clip snap fit over a second boss 42 for holding hair between the clip and the back of the body portion 44 of the barrette.

In using the accessory 22a, the tuft of hair 18 is arranged to extend through the tubular portion thereof so that the hair tuft extends downwardly along the side or back of the doll head 10, as shown by the full lines in FIG. 1. The barrette 32 is then secured near the lower extremity of the tuft of hair 18. A participant then pulls on the ring 36 which lifts the barrette upwardly toward the flange portion 28 of the accessory 22a to raise the tuft of hair into a position shown in phantom, as at 46. In this position, a user of the device can employ a comb or other implement to further style the dolls hair by blending in the tuft of hair 18 with the hair 14 secured to the head skull portion 12.

The accessory 22b is a braiding piece and also has a radially outwardly protruding flange 48 but has a generally upwardly protruding annular rib 50 having upwardly opening slots 52 disposed at selected positions thereabout. Aslot 54 is formed through the rib 50 and the flange 48 to form a continuation of the slot 26 in the tubular portion 24 to permit positioning of the tuft of hair 18 through the accessory. This accessory is designed to facilitate braiding the tuft of hair 18 in substantially conventional braiding fashion. As is known, braiding is performed by dividing a tuft of hair into preferably substantially equal portions and crisscrossing those portions in a predetermined sequence to form a predetermined braid or pattern. With the accessory 22b shown in the drawings, four slots 52 are provided for receiving three divided portions 56 (FIG. 4) of the tuft of hair 18. The braid is performed by crisscrossing the portions 56 by folding one of the portions toward the open slot 52 (as shown by the bottom righthand slot 52 in FIG. 4). For instance, one of the two upperportions of hair 56 as viewed in FIG. 4 would be folded downwardly into the bottom righthand open slot 52 and so on in a predetermined sequence to establish a predetermined braid pattern.

The accessory 220 shown in FIGS. and 6 is a curling piece and also has an outwardly protruding flange portion 58 having a slot 60 therein in communication with the slot 26 in the tubular portion 24 for receiving the tuft of hair 18 therethrough. This accessory is designed to facilitate curling the tuft of hair 18 which is exposed on the outside of the skull portion 12 of the head 10. More particularly, a plurality of post members 62 protrude upwardly from the top of the flange 58 and each post member has an upwardly opening slot 64 in the top thereof. As seen in FIG. 6, the tuft of hair 18 may be divided into equal or unequal portions 66 and wrapped around the posts 62 to form one or more curls. The ends 66a of the hair portions 66 may be inserted into the slots 64 at the top of the posts 62 to hold the curls in place.

It should be pointed out that other accessories similar to the interchangeable hair styling pieces 220-220 are contemplated by the present invention for facilitating other types of hair styles. As is apparent, the hair styling accessory 22a is designed to remain in place after the tuft of hair 18 is raised to the position shown at 46 in FIG. 1 where the raised hair actually covers and conceals the accessory. The braider accessory 22b shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is designed for use to establish the braid and thereafter removed once the braid is formed. The hair styling accessory 220 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is designed to establish the curls and, if desired, hold the curls in place while a setting solution is applied and then for removal of the accessory from the top of the head to permit combing out or otherwise styling the curls after they are set. Thus, it can be seen that accessory 220 both forms and holds the tuft of hair in a predetermined style; accessories 22b and 220 facilitate styling the hair and then may be removed; and, in addition, accessory 220 may be utilized to hold a predetermined set for the hair and then removed after the set is established.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair styling accessory piece having at least a portion thereof protruding outwardly from said skull portion and about which said simulated flexible hair can be wrapped for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said out wardly protruding portion of said hair styling accessory piece has a plurality of notches therein for facilitating the braiding of at least a portion of said simulated hair when the accessory piece is mounted on said skull portion by selectively positioning hair tufts in said notches.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said accessory piece has a generally central aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrude from said skull portion, the accessory piece having means about said aperture for retaining portions of said tuft of hair to permit manual manipulation of said tuft portions for braiding purposes.

4. The combination of claim 1 including a plurality of said hair styling accessory pieces which are interchangeable and which provide for different hair styles.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said accessory piece has a generally central aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrude from said skull portion, and including a plurality of said outwardly protruding portions spaced about said aperture for facilitating the styling of said simulated hair.

6. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair stying accessory piece having means thereon for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair including an aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrudefrom said skull portion, an annular rib on the accessory piece about said aperture, the rib protruding in a direction outwardly from the skull portion, and a plurality of notches in the rib for selective retention of portions of said hair tuft to facilitate braiding the same, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.

' 7. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair styling accessory having means thereon for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair including a post member protruding outwardly from said accessory piece about which a tuft of hair can be wrapped for curling purposes, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.

8. The combination of claim 7 including a slot adjacent the outer end of said post member for receiving and retaining the outer end of the tuft of hair after it is wrapped about the post member.

9. The combination of claim 7 including a plurality of said post members about the periphery of said accessory.

10. The combination of claim 7 wherein said accessory piece has a generally central aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrude from said skull portion, the accessory piece having a plurality of said post members about said aperture for curling a plurality of portions of said tuft of hair.

11. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, at least a portion of said simulated flexible hair being sufficiently long as to hang downwardly along the side of said head, a hair styling accessory having means thereon for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair including a flexible cord-like member which is secured thereto for longitudinal movement relative thereto whereby one end of the cord can be attached to said hanging hair and the other end of the cord pulled to braid the hair, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.

12. The combination of claim 11 including a barrette like member secured to said one end of the cord for selectively securing the same to the hanging hair.

13. The combination of claim 12 including an enlarged grasping means at said other end of the cord, the cord extending loosely through aperture means of said accessory, the aperture means being smaller than said barrette or said grasping means.

14. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair styling accessory piece for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair, cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair, said cooperating mounting means including open ended generally hollow shaft means on the accessory piece removably receivable in aperture means in said skull portion, with flange means of said accessory piece extending generally transversely of said shaft means on the outside of said skull portion, and with said means for facilitating the styling of said simulated hair being disposed on said flange means, and said shaft means having an open ended slot extending longitudinally therealong communicating with the interior of the shaft means whereby a tuft of hair may be positioned within the shaft means laterally through said slot for hair styling purposes. 

1. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair styling accessory piece having at least a portion thereof protruding outwardly from said skull portion and about which said simulated flexible hair can be wrapped for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said outwardly protruding portion of said hair styling accessory piece has a plurality of notches therein for facilitating the braiding of at least a portion of said simulated hair when the accessory piece is mounted on said skull portion by selectively positioning hair tufts in said notches.
 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said accessory piece has a generally central aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrude from said skull portion, the accessory piece having means about said aperture for retaining portions of said tuft of hair to permit manual manipulation of said tuft portions for braiding purposes.
 4. The combination of claim 1 including a plurality of said hair styling accessory pieces which are interchangeable and which provide for different hair styles.
 5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said accessory piece has a generally central aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrude from said skull portion, and including a plurality of said outwardly protruding portions spaced about said aperture for facilitating the styling of said simulated hair.
 6. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair stying accessory piece having means thereon for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair including an aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrude from said skull portion, an annular rib on the accessory piece about said aperture, the rib protruding in a direction outwardly from the skull portion, and a plurality of notches in the rib for selective retention of portions of said hair tuft to facilitate braiding the same, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.
 7. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair styling accessory having means thereon for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair including a post member protruding outwardly from said accessory piece about which a tuft of hair can be wrapped for curling purposes, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.
 8. The combination of claim 7 including a slot adjacent the outer end of said post member for receiving and retaining the outer end of the tuft of hair after it is wrapped about the post member.
 9. The combination of claim 7 including a plurality of said post members about the periphery of said accessory.
 10. The combination of claim 7 wherein said accessory piece has a generally central aperture through which a tuft of said simulated hair can protrude from said skull portion, the accessory piece having a plurality of said post members about said aperture for curling a plurality of portions of said tuft of hair.
 11. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, at least a portion of said simulated flexible hair being sufficiently long as to hang downwardly along the side of said head, a hair styling accessory having means thereon for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair including a flexible cord-like member which is secured thereto for longitudinal movement relative thereto whereby one end of the cord can be attached to said hanging hair and the other end of the cord pulled to ''''braid'''' the hair, and cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair.
 12. The combination of claim 11 including a barrette like member secured to said one end of the cord for selectively securing the same to the hanging hair.
 13. The combination of claim 12 including an enlarged grasping means at said other end of the cord, the cord extending loosely through aperture means of said accessory, the aperture means being smaller than said barrette or said grasping means.
 14. A hair styling figure and accessory combination, comprising: means defining a simulated head having a skull portion with simulated flexible hair affixed thereto, a hair styling accessory piece for facilitating styling said simulated flexible hair, cooperating means on said skull portion and said accessory piece for removably mounting said accessory piece on said skull portion in position for utilizing the accessory piece for arranging and styling the simulated hair, said cooperating mounting means including open ended generally hollow shaft means on the accessory piece removably receivable in aperture means in said skull portion, with flange means of said accessory piece extending generally transversely of said shaft means on the outside of said skull portion, and with said means for facilitating the styling of said simulated hair being disposed on said flange means, and said shaft means having an open ended slot extending longitudinally therealong communicating with the interior of the shaft means whereby a tuft of hair may be positioned within the shaft means laterally through said slot for hair styling purposes. 